I'd second Steve's comments - replicating an inherently limited physical
browse system seems an odd thing to do in the virtual world. I would
have thought that the 'faceted browse' function we are now seeing
appearing in library systems (of course, the Endeca implementation is a
leader here) is potentially the virtual equivalent of 'browsing the
shelves', but hopefully without the limitations that the physical
environment brings?

Is it the UI rather than the functionality that is lacking here? Perhaps
we need to look more carefully at the 'browsing' experience. Thinking
about examples outside the library world, I personally like the
'coverflow' browse in iTunes, but I'm able to sort tracks by several
criteria and still see a coverflow view. I have to admit that in general
I prefer the 'album' order when using coverflow, because otherwise it
doesn't make sense (to me that is). It would be interesting to look at
what an 'artistflow' might look like, or a 'genreflow'.

However, as far as I know I can't actually replicate the experience that
I would have with my (now in boxes somewhere) physical CD collection -
why was divided by genre, then sorted by artist surname (ok, I admit it,
I'm a librarian through and through)

Perhaps a better understanding of the 'browse' experience is needed? 

Some questions - when we browse:

When and why do people browse rather than search?
How do people make decisions about useful items as they browse?
Browsing stacks suggests that items have been 'ordered' - is there
something about this that appeals? Does it convey 'authority' in some
way that the 'any order you want' doesn't?

Owen

Owen Stephens
Assistant Director: eStrategy and Information Resources
Central Library
Imperial College London
South Kensington Campus
London
SW7 2AZ
 
t: +44 (0)20 7594 8829
e: [log in to unmask]
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Code for Libraries [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf
Of
> Steve Meyer
> Sent: 29 September 2008 21:45
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] creating call number browse
> 
> one counter argument that i would make to this is that we consistently
> hear from faculty that they absolutely adore browsing the
stacks--there
> is something that they have learned to love about the experience
> regardless of whether they understand that it is made possible by the
> work of catalogers assigning call numbers and then using them for
> ordering the stacks.
> 
> at uw-madison we have a faculty lecture series where we invite
> professors to talk about their use of library materials and their
> research and one historian said outright, the one thing that is
missing
> in the online environment is the experience of browsing the stacks. he
> seemed to understand that with all the mass digitization efforts, we
> could be on the edge of accomplishing it.
> 
> that said, i agree that we should do what you say also, just that we
> should not throw the baby out w/ the bath water. if faculty somehow
> understand that browsing the stacks is a good experience then we can
> use
> it as a metaphor in the online environment. in an unofficial project i
> have experimented w/ primitive interface tests using both subject
> heading 'more like this' and a link to a stack browse based on a call
> number sort:
> 
> http://j2ee-dev.library.wisc.edu/sanecat/item.html?resourceId=951506
> 
> (please, ignore the sloppy import problems, i just didn't care that
> much
> for the interface test)
> 
> as for the original question, this has about a million records and
> 900,000 w/ item numbers and a simple btree index in the database sorts
> at an acceptable speed for a development test.
> 
> -sm
> 
> Walker, David wrote:
> >> a decent UI is probably going to be a bigger job
> >
> > I've always felt that the call number browse was a really useful
> option, but the most disastrously implemented feature in most ILS
> catalog interfaces.
> >
> > I think the problem is that we're focusing on the task -- browsing
> the shelf -- as opposed to the *goal*, which is, I think, simply to
> show users books that are related to the one they are looking at.
> >
> > If you treat it like that (here are books that are related to this
> book) and dispense with the notion of call numbers and shelves in the
> interface (even if what you're doing behind the scenes is in fact a
> call number browse) then I think you can arrive at a much simpler and
> straight-forward UI for users.  I would treat it little different than
> Amazon's recommendations feature, for example.
> >
> > --Dave
> >
> > ==================
> > David Walker
> > Library Web Services Manager
> > California State University
> > http://xerxes.calstate.edu
> > ________________________________________
> > From: Code for Libraries [[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
> Stephens, Owen [[log in to unmask]]
> > Sent: Wednesday, September 17, 2008 9:17 AM
> > To: [log in to unmask]
> > Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] creating call number browse
> >
> > I'm not sure, but my guess would be that the example you give isn't
> > really a 'browse index' function, but rather creates a search result
> set
> > and presents it in a specific way (i.e. via cover images) sorted by
> call
> > number (by the look of it, it has an ID of the bib record as input,
> and
> > it displays this book and 10 before it, and 10 after it, in call
> number
> > order.
> >
> > Whether this is how bibliocommons achieves it or not is perhaps
> besides
> > the point - this is how I think I would approach it. I'm winging it
> > here, but if I was doing some quick and very dirty here:
> >
> > A simple db table with fields:
> >
> > Database ID (numeric counter auto-increment)
> > Bib record ID
> > URIs to book covers (or more likely the relevant information to
> create
> > the URIs such as ISBN)
> > Call number
> >
> > To start, get a report from your ILS with this info in it, sorted by
> > Call Number. To populate the table, import your data (sorted in Call
> > Number order). The Database ID will be created on import,
> automatically
> > in call number order (there are other, almost certainly better, ways
> of
> > handling this, but this is simple I think)
> >
> > To create your shelf browse given a Bib ID select that record and
get
> > the database ID. Then requery selecting all records which have
> database
> > IDs +-10 of the one you have just retrieved.
> >
> > Output results in appropriate format (e.g. html) using book cover
> URIs
> > to display the images.
> >
> > Obviously with this approach, you'd need to recreate your data table
> > regularly to keep it up to date (resetting your Database ID if you
> > want).
> >
> > Well - just how I'd do it if I wanted something up and running
> quickly.
> > As Andy notes, a decent UI is probably going to be a bigger job ;)
> >
> > Owen
> >
> > Owen Stephens
> > Assistant Director: eStrategy and Information Resources
> > Central Library
> > Imperial College London
> > South Kensington Campus
> > London
> > SW7 2AZ
> >
> > t: +44 (0)20 7594 8829
> > e: [log in to unmask]
> >
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> From: Code for Libraries [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf
> > Of
> >> Emily Lynema
> >> Sent: 17 September 2008 16:46
> >> To: [log in to unmask]
> >> Subject: [CODE4LIB] creating call number browse
> >>
> >> Hey all,
> >>
> >> I would love to tackle the issue of creating a really cool call
> number
> >> browse tool that utilizes book covers, etc. However, I'd like to do
> >> this
> >> outside of my ILS/OPAC. What I don't know is whether there are any
> >> indexing / SQL / query techniques that could be used to browse
> forward
> >> and backword in an index like this.
> >>
> >> Has anyone else worked on developing a tool like this outside of
the
> >> OPAC? I guess I would be perfectly happy even if it was something I
> >> could build directly on top of the ILS database and its indexes (we
> > use
> >> SirsiDynix Unicorn).
> >>
> >> I wanted to throw a feeler out there before trying to dream up some
> >> wild
> >> scheme on my own.
> >>
> >> -emily
> >>
> >> P.S. The version of BiblioCommons released at Oakville Public
> Library
> >> has a sweet call number browse function accessible from the full
> > record
> >> page. I would love to know know how that was accomplished.
> >>
> >> http://opl.bibliocommons.com/item/show/1413841_mars
> >>
> >> --
> >> Emily Lynema
> >> Systems Librarian for Digital Projects
> >> Information Technology, NCSU Libraries
> >> 919-513-8031
> >> [log in to unmask]
> 
> --
> Stephen Meyer
> Library Application Developer
> UW-Madison Libraries
> 312F Memorial Library
> 728 State St.
> Madison, WI 53706
> 
> [log in to unmask]
> 608-265-2844 (ph)
> 
> 
> "Just don't let the human factor fail to be a factor at all."
> - Andrew Bird, "Tables and Chairs"